


A Day in the Life of X

by charmingStrangeness



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pet Store, Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life, they're all in university but this isn't really a university AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-10 01:02:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5562718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmingStrangeness/pseuds/charmingStrangeness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>...where X could be any of them and day is occasionally plural</p><p>(in which Haru, Rin, and Nagisa work at a pet shelter, and Makoto and Rei become a part of their lives)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. first encounter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Einzel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Einzel/gifts), [GibbousLunation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GibbousLunation/gifts).



> inspired by a tweet from @auprompts – "i work at the shelter and u spent 2 hours trying to pick out the right dog and at first i just wanted to go home but this is rly cute" au
> 
> dedicated to einzel and lindy. thank you both for being amazing friends and supporting me through my descent into swimming anime hell <3
> 
> disclaimer: i have never actually been to a pet shelter so i don't really know about building layouts and stuff like that; apologies if i totally messed up some kind of important detail ;-;

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a pleasant afternoon interrupted
> 
> X = Haru

Haru grimaced at the sound of the bell ringing. The bell that meant someone had opened the door of the shop. The bell that signalled the arrival of a customer. The bell that meant he had to actually talk to people. Sighing, Haru stood up. On another day, he could have counted on Rin to greet the newcomer, whoever they were, but Rin had a big midterm coming up and Haru had agreed to run more or less everything while he spent the last couple hours of their shift in the back room, studying. It’s not a deal Haru would normally go for, but Rin had promised mackerel, and it always got quiet closer to closing time, anyways, so Haru had figured he’d be spending the end of his shift playing with the cats. To be fair, that is, effectively, what happened. He just wasn’t counting on a customer showing up half an hour to closing time. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but who could blame him? A quiet Sunday afternoon spent with the cats, ending with Rin gifting him some mackerel. If every Sunday could progress like that, Haru would be the happiest person alive.  _ Can’t win ‘em all, I guess _ , Haru thought as he pushed through the door into the reception room, prepared to give the mystery customer his best how-dare-you-interrupt-my-idyllic-afternoon glare.

The stranger looked up from the pamphlet he was holding as Haru walked in, and smiled. 

“Oh, hello!”

_ His eyes are so green _ . 

Haru suddenly realized his death glare had disintegrated, and quickly pulled his expression into a mild sulk. 

“What do you want?” He had intended to be curt, but Haru’s tone lacked bite. He couldn’t help himself – the customer somehow managed to look like a lost puppy, despite being easily over 6 feet tall and built like an Olympic athlete. Maybe it was the gentle smile that reached his eyes, or the windswept brown hair, or the incredibly flattering plaid shirt— 

The stranger flushed. “Ahh, if it’s alright, I’d… I’d like to see the cats? I’m thinking of adopting one.”

_ That _ broke Haru out of whatever enchantment he was falling under. Of all the animals at the shelter, the cats were his favourites, and he was  _ always _ wary of customers who wanted to adopt one. Haru would rather go the rest of his life with no mackerel, without being allowed to swim,  _ and _ being roommates with both Rin and Nagisa, than see one of the cats go to someone who wouldn’t take care of it properly.

Haru frowned. “Sure, follow me,” he said, and turned back through the door he’d just arrived through. 

This particular customer was an enigma. Haru knew that muscular guys tended to fall on either side of the responsible pet owner spectrum, either incredibly good with animals or downright terrible. With that in mind, he’d watch the guy interact with the cats, and decide whether or not he was worthy of having pets. Technically, Haru wasn’t allowed to prevent anyone from adopting without concrete proof of animal abuse, but rules didn’t mean much to Haru. Not when something as important as his cats were on the line. Besides, if he went too far, he could always blame it on Rin for letting him run the counter despite knowing that Haru would end up interacting with people. 

The stranger followed Haru through the door without saying anything, for which Haru was immensely grateful. His coworkers liked to joke about his notoriously terrible customer service skills, but the truth was that talking to strangers made Haru so uncomfortable he’d often end up being inadvertently rude in an attempt to avoid panicking, and something about this particular customer made Haru, well,  _ not _ want to be a jerk or push him away. As such, Haru was very appreciative of the blatant lack of small talk, and chalked up another point in the man’s favour. Hopefully this guy turned out to meet Haru’s standards for a good pet owner. It would be such a huge waste if someone this attractive and this quiet turned out to be an asshole. 

Whatever fears Haru may have been harbouring were quickly laid to rest. Haru was used to the cats scurrying up to him every time he entered the room, but he’d never seen them do it for anyone else. And yet, here they were going straight for the green-eyed man instead of Haru. The stranger crouched, and cats were everywhere, sniffing at him, batting his legs, trying to climb onto his arm. Haru wondered vaguely if this was how Rin felt watching him play with them – the cats adored Haru, but they tended to avoid Rin, and as much as Rin tried to brush it off as nothing it was obvious that he felt vaguely insulted by it. And now, Haru was in the position of being snubbed by the felines he loved so much. It… It was almost insulting, being outright ignored like this, but one look at the customer and Haru felt no resentment whatsoever. He was sitting on the floor cross-legged now, with cats on his lap and one across his shoulders and another in his arms, and a smile on his face that could have brought about world peace. 

There was no doubt about it – this man was a worthy pet owner. A smile tugged at Haru’s lips, and he broke the silence. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” The man nodded, never even looking up from the cat in his arms as Haru walked out of the room.

It had been two months since the shelter had rescued a pregnant cat, and five weeks since she had given birth to a litter of kittens. They were finally able to start socializing with humans, albeit on gentle terms; that being said, Haru felt certain it would be safe to show this customer one of them, perhaps even let him hold it. After some deliberation, Haru chose the pure white one, and headed back to the main room. 

The stranger looked up as Haru walked in, cradling the small white puffball close to his chest. Haru knelt beside him and watched as his expression shifted from curiosity to surprise to sheer joy as he realized what Haru was holding. Thoughts of sunrises and fireworks trailed faintly through the back of Haru’s mind. 

“I thought pet shelters didn’t usually have kittens,” the man said, almost whispering. 

Another tiny smile escaped onto Haru’s lips. “We rescued her mom while she was pregnant. Would you like to hold her, ahh…” Haru trailed off as he realized he didn’t know the man’s name. He felt a familiar knot forming in his stomach –  _ inevitable _ . Talking to strangers always ended up like this, horrid and uncomfortable and maybe it wasn’t bad yet but it would just get worse, it always got worse, and Haru would end up saying something rude by accident. He’d say something rude and scare off this stranger and normally Haru didn’t care about accidentally pushing people away, forced himself not to care, but this person was different and Haru couldn’t help but care. 

_ Caring what he thinks only makes it worse. Stop it. _ Haru willed himself to let go of the fear— 

The knot tightened.

_ Stop _ —

“Makoto.” 

Haru felt himself snap back into the present. 

“Ahhh, I mean, if you were looking for my name, that’s it. My name. Is what that is.”

The strang—  _ Makoto _ , Makoto was blushing. Haru realized he was staring, jaw somewhat agape.

A beat passed. 

“Y-yes,” mumbled Haru, “I was… I wasn’t sure what to call you…”

“Ah, I kinda figured. Yeah, just call me Makoto.” And then he smiled, and Haru felt the knot loosen. 

He took a breath.  _ Relax _ . “ My name is Haruka. Just ‘Haru’ is fine though.” He held out his hands, and Makoto mirrored the gesture. Haru passed him the kitten, and then scooped up one of the cats from the floor for himself, a pure black female named Shade. He focused on the soft fur behind Shade’s jaw and the smoothness of her coat as he drew his hand down her back. The knot loosened more. Haru felt his breathing slow, and he chanced a look at the man beside him.

Makoto was obviously strong, his hands alone looked powerful enough to hurt a small animal, but his movements were soft. Softer, gentler than any movements Haru had ever seen in his life. And the look on his face, in his eyes – Haru could see a child-like wonder,  _ reverence _ , even. If he had to guess, Haru would say that Makoto was feeling like he’d been blessed by every deity in existence. 

He felt the knot disintegrate entirely. 

_ Who is he? _ Haru had never met anyone like him. Strangers were usually far too friendly and completely oblivious to Haru’s discomfort at having to interact with them, but this guy… He was quiet, he was kind to animals, and just looking at him relaxed Haru faster than petting the cats ever had. Feeling this comfortable in the presence of someone he didn’t know was entirely unheard of for Haru. He snuggled Shade into his chest, keeping his eyes on Makoto. His face was still lit up with emotion, and Haru felt a familiar tug at his heart – the urge to paint. It didn’t hit him often anymore; ever since he’d started university, Haru had less time for hobbies, and art had fallen to the wayside. But he still had all his supplies tucked away somewhere, and there was nothing he wanted more than to try and capture the joy and love that was radiating from those green eyes… 

“What’s her name?” Makoto’s voice was almost a whisper. 

“Ah, we haven’t decide on names for her or her siblings yet.” Haru hesitated for a moment, thinking of the naming ban on him, Rin and Nagisa – would Makoto want to hear that story? Conversation wasn’t Haru’s strong suit but, with Makoto, it felt like maybe… “Rin – my coworker – wants to name her Izanami, after the goddess of creation and death, but he has bad taste in names, so he’s not allowed to name the animals.”

Makoto chuckled, and Haru felt something in his chest, not a knot of anxiety, but something different, warmer. “Well, what would you name her?”

Haru smiled. “I’d name her Anchovy, or Herring, but I’m not allowed to name the animals either.”

At that, Makoto burst into full-out laughter. The warmth in Haru’s chest spread, flooded his body. How could one person have so many different expressions of happiness, all of them equally beautiful? The kindness in his eyes present since the beginning of their encounter, the joy at being able to hold the tiny white kitten, and now this lighthearted, endless laughter… Haru felt the heat rise up to his ears, venture towards his cheeks. Who gave this boy the right to be so incredibly gorgeous? And considerate, and comfortable, and stellar with animals, on top of that. 

_ Who is he? _

Makoto’s laughter died down, and Haru seized the opportunity. “What do you do, anyways? Are you a student?” There was no evidence for Haru to back up that claim, but Makoto just… Gave off the vibe of someone who was also in university. And if Haru was wrong, well, it didn’t matter. They barely new each other but Makoto’s presence felt like that of a long-time friend, so the idea of saying incorrect things didn’t really fill Haru with fear, in this case. 

Another chuckle, accompanied by a wry smile. “How did you figure it out? I’m in my third year studying education.” His eyes briefly seemed to focus on some space far behind Haru. “Someday I’d like to be a kindergarten teacher, I think.”

“You seem like you could make that happen.”

The faintest blush rose onto Makoto’s cheeks. “You seem confident in that statement.”

“Well, you put a lot of attention and care into playing with the cats.” From Makoto’s smile, Haru could tell that Makoto had inferred what he’d left unsaid - _ you’d do the same for kids, too _ . 

“What about you? Anything else in your life other than working here?”

Haru nodded. “I’m on the varsity swim team at my university.”

“Swimming, huh? I used to swim backstroke on my middle school swim team. My high school didn’t have a swim club though, so I didn’t keep it up.”

_ Are you sure? Your build says otherwise. _ Haru tried to push the thought of Makoto in legskins out of his head. “I swim free. Just free.” Makoto looked like he’d have a powerful stroke, no matter how he swam. Some corner of Haru’s mind briefly considered sketching him doing the backstroke. 

The tiny white fluffball in Makoto’s hands yawned. “Ah, she seems tired… Here.” Makoto passed her back to Haru. He quickly returned her to the pen with the rest of the kittens in the next room and sat back down beside Makoto, inches closer than where he’d been sitting previously. Only because Shade had started to walk around to Makoto’s other side, and she’d be easier to reach – no other reason than that. Haru scooped the feline back into his arms and did his best to ignore the slight heat at the tips of his ears. 

Haru was glad they’d somehow ended up with their backs facing the wall clock; he was certain it was almost closing time, but he wasn’t ready for the moment to end. Never in his life had Haru met someone who was so easy to be around, and he wanted their afternoon to last forever. It was funny how things had worked out in the end – Haru had been afraid of customers ruining his afternoon, but instead a customer was here making him wish he could extend the shop’s opening hours infinitely. God, was Haru ever grateful that he’d agreed to let Rin use their shift to study. He’d have to thank Rin later for providing him with this incredible opportu—

“Haru what the fuck? It’s twenty minutes past close.” Rin’s voice was like a bucket of ice over Haru’s head. Beside him, Makoto jumped and clapped a hand over his mouth. Haru heard the startled squeak regardless and filed it away in his memory for future review; for the time being, his primary concerns were that Rin was standing in the doorway behind him, and the fact that it was, in all likelihood, actually a full twenty minutes past close. 

Taking a deep breath, Haru looked back over his shoulder with the most deadpan expression he could muster. “Lost track of time.” He turned to Makoto. “Sorry, we need to clean up and close the shop now.”

Makoto nodded (his ears were a burning red and his cheeks were slightly flushed - another detail delivered to the back of Haru’s mind). “Of course, no worries. I’m sorry to have taken up so much of your time! Thank you for today!” The smile that followed was, objectively, fairly small and soft and unobtrusive, but to Haru it burned brighter than the sun. He tried to fight down the heat seeping into his own cheeks.

“Come back any time.”

“Of course!” Makoto stood, mumbled a quick apology in Rin’s direction, and hurried out of the room. 

Haru stood. So much for thanking Rin for – what was it he’d been on the verge of thinking? Probably not ruining his afternoon. To be fair though, they  _ did _ have to close up eventually. 

“Who was that guy?” Rin’s question dragged Haru back to the present. 

“Oh… Just a customer.” Haru could see… Something, on Rin’s face. Puzzlement. A lingering question. Rin opened his mouth, seemed to think better of saying whatever he’d planned to say, and closed it. Haru opted to ignore whatever internal drama Rin was currently facing. “Come on, let’s get cleaning. I’ll go lock the front door” 

He walked past Rin into the reception room, breaking into an uncharacteristically large smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter: rin's take on this whole situation
> 
> feel free to come talk to me on tumblr @ bombushuntii


	2. friends since forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after all is said and done, only forty-five minutes of studying actually happen
> 
> X = Rin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was a lot of fun to write and it kind of ran away and became something bigger than i'd anticipated.... i hope you all enjoy reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it!

“Watcha studying?”

The question shattered what little focus Rin had managed to string together, and he sighed loudly.

“Leave me alone.”

“Awwwww, but that’s no fun. Are you memorizing body parts again? Can I help you study?” A small cloud of golden hair obscured Rin’s view of his anatomy book as Nagisa leaned across the table and practically shoved his face into the textbook. “Where are the trapezius muscles?”

“Stop being a pest.”

“How could you say that, Rin-chan,” Nagisa looked up, and Rin felt himself swallowed up by the distress in those eyes. Some logical part of his brain knew Nagisa wasn’t _actually_ offended, but it was impossible to say no to Nagisa when he had that look on his face.

Rin looked away. “The trapezius muscles extend from the back of the neck over the shoulders,” he grumbled, “but muscles aren’t on this midterm. We’ve moved on to the circulatory and respiratory systems.”

Nagisa leaned back. “Then why are you in the muscle chapter?” It was a genuine question. A legitimate question. Nagisa had every right to ask. Regardless, Rin smacked his forehead into the textbook and groaned loudly.

They sat for a moment, not saying anything. Rin couldn’t see Nagisa, but he could tell his coworker was fidgeting, probably waiting for an answer.

“I can’t focus,” he mumbled into the textbook.

“What was that, Rin-chan? My ears aren’t connected to the textbook, you know.”

Rin sighed and pulled himself up. “I said I can’t focus.”

Nagisa leaned forward again, a suspicious sparkle in his eye. “Something on your mind, Rin-chan?” Rin mistrusted the way Nagisa sang his name. He mistrusted everything about this situation, in fact. Telling Nagisa anything important was like playing Russian roulette; he might look innocent, but make no mistake – Nagisa was one hell of a crafty person. You never knew when the act of divulging anything to the tiny blond tornado might come back to bite you in the ass later.

And yet…

Rin sighed, yet again. Yes, yes there was something on his mind, in fact. And, in all honesty, it probably couldn’t hurt to tell Nagisa. He might actually have something useful to say on the topic.

Rin steeled himself for the reaction he knew was coming. “I think Haru’s likes someone. You know, like, _like_ likes.”

As expected, Nagisa emitted a positively unholy shriek, and jumped out of his chair, which then toppled to the ground with a loud clatter. “Haru-chan found the love of his life?!?!?!”

Rin tried to bite back his fourth sigh in all of two minutes, and failed. “Look, I don’t know what happened, or what’s going on in that fish-brain’s head, but he was acting really weird on Sunday. And there was a customer he was with. I dunno, I think he might have a crush on the guy.”

Nagisa leaned onto his elbows. “Just a crush? Or more serious??”

“I don’t know… It’s hard to tell with Haru. But…” Rin leaned his chin onto the palm of his hand. You didn’t spend your entire life being friends with Nanase Haruka and not pick up a thing or two about his usual behaviour. “I think it might be serious.”

“Wait a minute!” Nagisa jumped back up. “You said he was with a customer? _Haru-chan_??? He willingly helped someone out?? Do the owners know???”

“Damnit Nagisa will you _pick up your chair and sit down_ ,” Rin snapped. “And, I don’t know if it was willingly. I’m not exactly sure what happened there, to be honest.”

Nagisa righted the chair and sat down on the very edge of the seat. Rin wasn’t entirely sure he was even _on_ the seat, in all honesty. Nagisa leaned even further forward, somehow, vibrating with excitement. “Rin-chan. _Tell me everything_.”

Rin casually ignored regret that was beginning to pool in the back of his mind. He wasn’t sure if telling Nagisa would help, but it was too late to turn back now. “On Sunday, I bribed Haru to watch the counter so I could study. I know he’s not supposed to help customers but I figured, what the heck, it’s a Sunday, no one’s going to come in. Haru will be fine. He’ll grab me if he runs into trouble. I lost track of time, realized it was past closing time, and went to go help Haru clean up. I found him playing with the cats, and there was this guy with him. A customer. Also playing with the cats.” Rin frowned, remembering the flood of cats surrounding the two of them. He couldn’t believe there was someone in this world other than Haru who could attract cats like that. It was so unfair.

“That’s it?” Nagisa asked.

“Well, I said it was closing time, the guy apologized and practically ran out of here. But…” Rin took a deep breath. “Haru told him to come back anytime before he ran out.”

Nagisa’s brow furrowed. “Are you sure he wasn’t just being nice?”

“Nagisa. This is Haru we’re talking about. He doesn’t talk to people he doesn’t know, remember? And he’d never be polite with a customer.” The owners of the shelter had hired Haru because he was exceptional with the animals, but when they found out how bad he was with customers, they’d banned him from working the counter. Rin could remember the day it happened very well – it had taken all of Rin’s convincing to stop them from firing Haru outright. He’d had to explain about Haru’s anxiety, upsell his skills with animals, remind them of student loans and how hard it was to find a part time job…

“That’s a good point, but what if it was a friend of Haru’s?”

Rin stopped to consider the idea. “Maybe… I didn’t think Haru had many friends in his classes though. And I would have recognized him if he was on the swim team. Besides, later on, when we were almost done cleaning up, I caught Haru _smiling_.”

“Haru-chan smiles all the time, though.”

“No, he’s sulking all the time. And I mean like… A real smile. I saw his teeth, Nagisa. _That_ kind of smile.”

Nagisa nodded slowly. “Yeah, that does sound pretty weird. So, what do we do about it, anyways?”

“Wait, what?” _Do_ something about it? What would Rin and Nagisa—

The bell chimed, and Nagisa jumped out of his chair. “Ooh! Customer! Let’s go!” He grabbed Rin’s wrist and all but ran towards reception.

“Nagisa, let g—” Rin tried to stop as they burst through the door into reception, stumbled, careened into the front desk, barely managed to catch himself before smashing his face into the wooden countertop. He remembered there was a customer just in time to bite back the cry of _goddamnit Nagisa_ he’d been about to let loose, and a small corner of his mind set to work on planning Nagisa’s demise instead.

“Wow, nice save!” The voice tickled Rin’s memory banks. He looked up, and was met with a pair of kind emerald eyes that widened in sudden surprise. Rin could tell he was wearing a matching expression as the stranger. _This is—!_

“Aren’t you the cat guy from the other day?” Rin couldn’t stop the question from tumbling out of his mouth. He cringed at his own lack of tact – _who am I, Haru?_

The stranger laughed. “Yeah, I thought I recognized you. My name’s Makoto, by the way.”

“I’m R—”

“My name is Nagisa, pleased to meet you, Mako-chan!” Nagisa jumped into Rin, adding a physical aspect to what began as only a verbal interruption. Rin mustered his best death glare. Nagisa only giggled. “Oh, and this is Rin-chan!” Rin rolled his eyes. One day, Rin would manage to faze Nagisa. One day. His time would come.

Makoto laughed again. It was a pleasant sound. For that matter, everything about the guy was pleasant. Rin could understand why Haru would be so taken with him – he was definitely very attractive, and, based on Sunday, seemed to be good with animals. Rin knew how much Haru valued that quality in people. The only mystery was how Haru managed to invite Makoto back. Rin had known Haru for as long as he could remember, and he’d never known a time when Haru could talk to strangers without panicking. In fact, Rin was positive that it had only gotten worse over the years; Haru had gone from tripping over sentences to one word answers to not even saying anything. And yet, he’d heard Haru utter the words ‘come back any time’… Maybe Nagisa was right. Maybe they needed to do something about this.

Rin cleared his throat. “So, Makoto, what brings you here today?”

“Ah, I was hoping to see Haru— see if Haru would show me the cats again.”

“Well, Mako-chan, we could show you the cats, if you’d like!” Nagisa’s eyes gleamed. “Rin-chan mentioned you were in on Sunday, were you thinking of adopting?”

“Yes, actually.” Makoto looked down, and his eyes softened, somehow. Rin could hardly believe it was possible for him to look more gentle than he already did. “There’s a small white kitten. I know she’s too young to adopt right now, but I was hoping I could see her again.” Makoto looked up and smiled. Rin briefly thought about investing in a good pair of sunglasses if this guy was going to start coming around a lot.

“Ohhhh you mean Wasabi??” Nagisa bounced onto his toes.

Rin snorted. “Her name is Izanami, idiot. Wasabi is a stupid name.”

Makoto chuckled. “Haru told me she didn’t have a name yet. And—” a twinkle of mischief appeared in Makoto’s eyes – “he mentioned that none of you are allowed to name the animals.”

Nagisa’s wild laughter filled the room, and Rin scowled. Haru was definitely going to pay for telling that story.

Rin’s mind ground to a sudden halt. _Wait a minute. He told—_

“Did he tell you about Rin’s fish, too?” Nagisa cackled, breaking off Rin’s train of thought.

Rin took the bait without even thinking. “Hey! Don’t diss War, Famine, Pestilence and Death. They’re badass names!”

“You named your fish after the four horsemen of the apocalypse?” Makoto looked beyond amused.

Rin frowned. “Well it’s better than naming them after random foods, or random anime characters, or weird obscure English names, like Nagisa does.” Rin paused, then added, “Or seafish names, like Haru.” He silently congratulated himself on bringing the conversation back on track. Had Nagisa picked up on a certain glaringly obvious and incredible important detail as well? Rin hoped he’d noticed. _He told him about the naming ban. They had a conversation._

“Speaking of Haru,” Nagisa grinned slyly, “do you know him from school, at all? It seems like you’re very friendly with him.” _Oh, he_ so _noticed_.

“Eh? Oh, no we’re not in the same program or anything. I’m in education. He mentioned he was on the swim team so I’m assuming he’s in some kind of sports-related degree. I’m not even sure if we go to the same school, to be honest.”

Rin glanced and Nagisa. So they didn’t know each other, after all.

In that case, the only explanation…

“Well, in any case, if you wanted to talk to Haru, he’s not on shift today for another hour.” Rin was mildly impressed with the boldness of Nagisa’s statement, but not remotely surprised. Nagisa was the kind of person who called things as he saw them, leaving no room for ambiguity or passive beating around the bush. Rin felt a bit bad for Makoto – from the look on his face, he was definitely taken aback, and more than likely somewhat uncomfortable. Rin knew the feeling well; he’d been on the receiving end of Nagisa’s directness on more than one occasion.

“How did…” Makoto began, then shook his head. “Ah well. I actually can’t stay that late, so I guess I’ll come back another day.” Rin didn’t miss the nervous waver in Makoto’s voice, or the way his cheeks were slightly rosier than when he’d arrived.

“We’ll let him know you stopped by!” Nagisa grinned. “His shifts are Tuesday and Thursday nights, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons.”

“Ah, thanks! See you later, then!” Makoto waved as he left.

The second the door clicked shut, Nagisa pounced, grabbing Rin’s shirt collar. “Did you see that?? Rin-chan did you _see_ that!!!”

“Damnit Nagisa, let go!” Rin tried to pull away, but Nagisa’s hands had him in a vice-like grip.

“Rin-chan,” Nagisa’s face dropped into a mask of seriousness, “look me in the eye and tell me they’re not smitten with each other.”

Rin couldn’t help but grin. “Did you pick up on the fact that they obviously had a proper conversation?”

Nagisa answered Rin’s smile with one of his own. “And did _you_ notice how when he came in, he said he wanted to see the cats, but he left when he found out Haru wasn’t here?”

“He was blushing when he made that excuse, eh?”

“We could have let him see the cats but he didn’t even stick around for that much.” Nagisa was bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Rin-chan, they need our help. We need to set them up.”

“We probably don’t need to go _that_ far. Haru might need a little push to get going, though,” Rin mused. Never in his life had he known Haru to have a crush on anyone. Rin wasn’t sure if he even knew how to even recognize his own feelings. “In any case, I’m going to keep studying until Haru gets here, so do me a favour and watch the counter, okay?”

“All by myself? No fun, Rin-chan,” Nagisa pouted. He obviously wasn’t seriously upset though, because he didn’t follow Rin into the back room.

He got a solid forty-five minutes of studying in before Nagisa finally sat across from him at the table.

“Hey, Rin-chan.” Nagisa’s voice was serious.

Rin looked up from the diagram of the heart he’d been in the process of memorizing. “What is it?”

Nagisa looked away. “Ah… Never mind.” He began to stand up.

Rin sighed. “No, not never mind. Something’s obviously on your mind.” Nagisa was usually a fountain of energy, but sometimes the happiness was a facade for something bothering him, and every so often Nagisa would drop his guard and talk about it. Rin had known Nagisa since his second year of middle school; in that time Nagisa had gotten this serious with him only a handful of times, so Rin was not about to let him get away without saying anything. “Sit back down and tell me what’s up.” It went like this every time – Nagisa would approach Rin, indicate that there was a problem, give Rin the chance to back out. Rin never did.

Nagisa sank back into his chair. “Are you sure? It’s really stupid.”

“As stupid as the time you thought you had a deadly illness back in high school?” Rin kept his tone lighthearted, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

A smile pulled at the corners of Nagisa’s lips. “It might be.”

“Well, go on then. Let’s hear it.”

“It’s just…” Nagisa began to fidget. “I guess… I hope I find someone, too.”

“What, afraid you’ll be forever alone or something?” At that, Nagisa looked away. “Wait, seriously? Nagisa…” Rin sighed – it was beginning to feel like sighing was his natural state of existence at this point. “Nagisa, please. You _know_ that’s not necessarily true.”

Nagisa continued to stare at the floor with no response. This wasn’t like him. Rin was positive there had to be more to the story than just a simple fear of never finding love. Nagisa might have his share of insecurities, but ending up alone was definitely not one of them.

Rin attempted a new angle of approach. “What brought this on, anyways? Are you jealous of Haru or something?” There was no way that was the case, but it couldn’t hurt to ask, regardless.

As anticipated, Nagisa shook his head. “No, no, it’s just… I guess meeting Mako-chan just reminded me, I was visiting my parents this weekend and they made some comments about how I ‘still don’t have a girlfriend’, and then one of my sisters texted me the other night bringing up how I was single…” Nagisa trailed off, and it all clicked into place. Of course, it always came back to his family in the end, didn’t it?

Rin leaned forward, reaching out to ruffle Nagisa’s hair. “Hey, what have I told you only five thousand times or more about taking shit from your family? Don’t listen to them, Nagisa.”

Nagisa smiled, albeit somewhat ruefully. “Yeah, I know. It’s just hard sometimes, you know?”

Rin nodded. “Yeah, I know.” You didn’t spend seven years being friends with Hazuki Nagisa and not learn a thing or two about his life. “They’re wrong, you know.”

“Yeah. They’re wrong.” Nagisa’s face brightened. “After all all, if Haru-chan can find his Prince Charming, I should have no trouble whatsoever!”

Rin snorted. “The fact that Haru found someone who likes him at all is the greatest miracle that ever happened on this planet. God, that Makoto guy has no idea what he’s in for.” Haru was by and large the most ornery, difficult, human being the universe had ever known. It was one thing for Rin, who’d known him since forever, to deal with him, but a complete stranger…

The bell chimed again, cutting off Rin’s thoughts once again. “Here, I’ll go check,” he said, “I need to stretch my legs.” He only made it halfway across the room before the door to reception opened.

“Hey,” Haru nodded in Rin and Nagisa’s general direction as he crossed the room and let his bag drop unceremoniously to the floor in the corner. Nagisa was behind him in seconds, all traces of any previous worries completely wiped from his face.

“Haru-chaaaaan,” Nagisa sang, “you had a visitor today!”

The reaction was subtle, but instantaneous. Rin watched the blood rise up Haru’s neck and into his cheeks and ears. He kept his face impassive, but Haru’s eyes betrayed him – they were shining bright as the eyes of a child on Christmas morning. “What, did you get so bored that Rin pretended to be a customer or something?” Haru’s voice had a nearly imperceptible shake to it. A wide grin split across Rin’s face. There was no possible way Haru didn’t know who they were talking about.

“Haru-chan, please. It was a real customer! He wanted to adopt Wasabi but he left when he found out you weren’t in.”

Rin figured it was his turn to chime in. “I can see why you’d find him cute, Haru. You should ask for his number.” He laughed as Haru’s face darkened further.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Haru muttered, before giving Rin a death glare that _might’ve_ knocked out a gnat, at best, and stalking out of the room.

“Well, my work here is done!” Rin chuckled as he began packing up his notes. “Take care of Haru for me, okay? He looked a tiny bit flustered back there.”

Nagisa grinned. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be extra nice to him after that performance you put on. So nice that he’ll tell me alllll about his feelings by the end of the night.”

“You’re a devious bastard, you know that?” Rin hoisted his backpack over his shoulder.

“I do my best, Rin-chan.” Nagisa winked.

Rin glanced towards the door to reception. Haru was definitely in for something, tonight, that much was for sure.

“Oh, and Rin-chan?” Nagisa’s voice had lost its mischievous touch.

“Yeah?”

Nagisa looked down, again. “Thanks for earlier.”

Rin smiled. “Anytime, Nagisa. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

* * *

 

He wasn’t sure exactly when the check engine light had come on, but by the time Rin noticed it was too late; seconds after he realized it was on, the engine cut out and the car began decelerating rapidly. He punched the hazard lights and pulled on the steering wheel – the power steering was gone as well, so it took almost all his strength to pull over to the side of the road.

Rin sat for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. Stupid piece of shit car. He supposed he had it coming; it was an old junker, after all. Still, breakdowns were inconvenient. He’d have to make arrangements to get to and from work for the next few evenings…

First though, he needed to get back to his apartment, and get the car towed to a mechanic. Rin pulled his phone out of his pocket and selected the third number on the speed dial list.

“Hey, Rei? It’s Rin. I need a favour…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i realized Rin doesn't end up with anyone in this story, and i can't decide which explanation i like best. here are the options, feel free to pick your favourite!
> 
> 1\. aro and/or ace Rin doesn't care about finding someone to be in a relationship with, he feels very fulfilled with the friends he already has in his life, thank you very much  
> 2\. varsity swimmer/kinesiology undergrad Rin has no time for romance; that can wait for after he graduates  
> 3\. Rin has his eye on someone from his physiology class  
> 4\. Rin is already in a long-term relationship, and they've just been dating for so long it's kind of a given and doesn't come up often 
> 
> next chapter: a wild Rei appears??
> 
> i'm on tumblr @ bombushuntii, come say hi!


	3. the ballad of rei and nagisa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> awkward flirting, romcoms, and a pickup line clocking in at -7 on a scale of 1 to 5
> 
> X = Rei

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing this... was a wild ride, to say the least. have fun!

Rei drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. Gazing at the front door of the pet shelter, he pondered the correct protocol was for picking up one’s roommate from their workplace, especially when you’d only been living with said roommate for a mere five months. Were you supposed to wait quietly outside in the car? Or go inside and say hi, maybe meet the aforementioned roommate’s coworkers? If Rin worked at a coffee shop Rei would have considered going in and buying tea or an espresso, depending on the time of day, but this was a pet shelter. You couldn’t just go in and browse pets without the intention of actually adopt one. That would be weird.

That being said, sitting alone in a parked car wasn’t much better. Especially on a Friday night. That was just… Well, pretty sad, in all honesty.

Rei glanced at the glowing numbers of the dashboard clock. There were still five minutes before Rin’s shift was supposed to end. He supposed it couldn’t hurt to wander in and check up on Rin, maybe chat with him a bit while he finished up his shift…

After a quick check to make sure everything in his car was in order (headlights turned off, valuables hidden away, key in his pocket and not somewhere in the car waiting to be locked in, handbrake on, doors locked – just the usual things one would check while exiting a vehicle, although he didn’t bother with the steering wheel lock since he’d only be gone for a few minutes) Rei found himself pulling open the front door of the pet shelter and stepping inside. Across from the entrance was a wooden counter, and behind it was, well, not Rin, as Rei had been hoping. Rin was nowhere in sight, in fact. The not-Rin behind the counter was shorter, with fluffy golden hair, and an expression that spelled ‘bored out of his mind’ clear as day, although it was quickly replaced by a bright smile.

“Hi there! The name’s Nagisa, what can I help you with today?”

 _Oh no, he’s—_ Rei swallowed, and refused to let himself finish the thought that had begun forming.

“Oh it’s fine I’m just— I’m, I’m just waiting for… for my friend. My. Roommate.” Rei’s cheeks flushed. He prayed that Nagisa wouldn’t notice.

The gods seemed to have forsaken Rei, however. Nagisa leaned forward onto his elbows, with an expression reminiscent of a predatory animal sizing up its prey. “What a coincidence, I was waiting for someone too. Lucky for me, he just arrived,” he finished with a grin.

Maybe he should have stayed in the car to wait after all. He was dimly aware of Nagisa giggling somewhere beyond his currently short-circuiting brain.

 _Come on Rei. Deep breaths._ He willed himself to get it together. So what if Rin’s coworker was heart-stoppingly cute? So what if he was also incredibly forward? And if the small bottle of sunshine behind the counter was flirting with Rei, well, wasn’t that a good thing? The correct procedure here was clear; if a cute boy was flirting with you, well then, you needed to flirt back.

Of course… What did one even _say_ in response to something like that?

Rei pushed up his glasses. “Well, I’m glad you feel lucky. Because. You… should… feel lucky…” No, no that was _definitely_ not what one should say. Rei briefly considered simply straight up running out of the shop and waiting for Rin in the car. Instead, he opted to give flirting another try. “But, you can’t possibly feel as lucky as me, finding you here.” There, _that_ was better. Well, not by much, mind you. But a little bit. Besides, Rei was _fairly_ certain the other boy’s cheeks had just darkened by a shade. It seemed a little illogical for Nagisa to get even the tiniest bit flustered over such a fumbling line, but hey, Rei would take what he could get.

Nagisa didn’t stay flustered for long, though (if he’d ever gotten as far as flustered in the first place). “So, pretty-boy, do you have a name or am I going to have to make one up for you?”

“P-pretty-boy?!” Rei choked. _Oh my God??? Did he just???_

Musical laughter filled the room, like the sparkle of sunshine reflecting on water. Rei felt his heart begin to race. _Deep breaths_. His face must have been crimson, by now, Rei was sure of it. But he had to relax. Had to pull himself back together. Nagisa had asked for his name, after all.

“My—” he began, then thought better of it. He couldn’t just give up his name that easily. Nagisa was looking to flirt, so he had to be flirtatious about it. “I guess it’s once again your lucky day, then, as I do, in fact, have a name, so you won’t be needing to expend the effort of finding one for me.” Rei grinned proudly – it was the first sentence he’d managed to say without tripping over his words since walking into the shelter (even if he was probably redder than a cooked lobster during the delivery). His grin faltered when he realized that Nagisa was staring at him in, what was that expression, _wonder_ ? His eyes were positively sparkling, and his cheeks were _definitely_ tinged a light pink.

“Um.” Rei said, graceful as a… As… Well, graceful as something that was decidedly _not_ very graceful. _Graceful as my internal monologue while under the stress of flirting with cute boys._ “Are— are you okay.”

A massive smile painted itself across Nagisa’s face. “Oh, I am _more_ than okay, pretty-boy. Although I’d be _even better_ if you’d tell me your name.”

“Ah! Yes, well,” Rei pushed up his glasses, briefly (blessedly) forgetting to be awkward, “it’s Rei. Ryuugazaki Rei.”

“Count myself pleased and lucky to make your acquaintance, today, _Ryuugazaki Rei_.” Nagisa’s posture had straightened and voice was suddenly, jarringly formal, although there was still a hint of mischievousness left in it. Rei wondered how one person could be so expressive; it was as though Nagisa’s emotional state was being conveyed not just by his face or his voice, like most people, but through his entire collective being. It was incredible, really. Rei had never met anyone that had left such a strong impression on him.

Rei smiled gently, letting all thoughts of flirtatiousness drop from his mind in favour of speaking the truth as he felt it in that moment. “No, believe me, the pleasure is all mine.” He watched as Nagisa reverted back to that expression of sheer wonder, and noted that it seemed to occur when Rei spoke frankly, confidently, without stumbling. He’d have to test that theory, at some point.

Nagisa opened his mouth to speak, and was promptly interrupted by the door behind him swinging open.

“Yo,” Rin nodded at Rei as he walked out of the back room. Rei felt equal parts saddened and relieved at his appearance. Part of him wanted to continue talking to Nagisa, but he wasn’t sure how much more he could take before being flustered caused him to have a minor stroke.

“Ready to get going?”

“You bet.” Rin ruffled Nagisa’s hair as he walked by (Rei felt a pang of something that felt suspiciously like jealousy, punctuated with indiscriminate _wanting_ ). “Hey, Nagisa, this is my roommate, Rei. He’s my ride while my car’s in the shop. Rei, this is Nagisa, my coworker, obviously. Although,” a wry smile tugged at Rin’s lips, “it looks like you’re already acquainted.”

“Not as acquainted as I’d like to be,” quipped Nagisa.

Rei was positive he could feel the temperature of the room increase by several degrees, although he knew that wasn’t actually possible. Whatever ability to be smooth he’d had moments ago had disappeared, and Rei was, to be quite honest, probably more ready to leave and regroup his emotions than he’d originally believed. He managed an apologetic smile in Nagisa’s direction. “Maybe another time. Rin and I really need to get going.”

Rin raised an eyebrow, and Rei steeled himself for some kind of comment about not being in a rush, but thankfully, none came. Instead, he headed towards Rei and waved behind him. “See you tomorrow, Nagisa!”

“Bye, Rin-chan! Come back soon, Rei-chan!”

Rei choked again – Rei _-chan_??? Seriously??? – but luckily he was already out the door and out of Nagisa’s sight. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on his driving prep. A quick onceover of the car revealed no scratches or dents, and his breathing began to even out. He peered through the window to ensure no one had snuck into the back seat, and felt his heart rate slow. By the time Rei finished unlocking the door and checking to make sure everything inside was in its place, he could tell the flush in his cheeks had faded.

Rin sat beside him in the passenger seat. “You are far too thorough about checking over your car before you get in.”

“It’s all a part of safe driving practices.”

“Checking the back for serial killers, though?”

Rei sighed. “There’s no harm in being careful.”

Rin chuckled as Rei backed out of the parking space. Rei looked over and saw that he had his phone out.

“Something funny on your phone, Rin?”

“Eh? Ah, it’s nothing.” Rin’s eyes said otherwise, but Rei didn’t press the topic. “Oh, by the way, I’ll need a ride tomorrow, and the day after as well, since I won’t be able to pick my car up until Monday. Think you can help me out?”

“Yes, that should be fine.”

“Oh, and, Nagisa will be working both days. In case you’re interested.” Rei could feel Rin’s eyes on him, observing, waiting. Rei stared diligently at the road ahead of him, trying not to betray his excitement.

“Is he now. Well, maybe I’ll have to stop in and say hello.”

Rin nodded. “Maybe you should.”

They continued the drive in silence, and Rei contemplated his situation. He had two more opportunities to see Nagisa (and he’d as good as told Rin that he’d be taking advantage of them). Two more chances. Well then, challenge accepted. He’d have to prepare; today he had been caught off guard by Nagisa’s disarming smile and bold flirtations, but tomorrow he wouldn’t make the same mistakes. He would prove that he could be smooth. He’d get Nagisa just as flustered at Rei himself had been today. And then, on Sunday, he would make his final move and ask Nagisa out.

Rei did a double take at his own train of thought. Ask Nagisa out? He considered the possibility. Really, it was the only logical conclusion to this whole scenario. And besides, Rei hadn’t forgotten that spike of _desire_ he’d felt back at the shelter. There was definitely more to this than some empty game of flirting.

Rei felt his chest well up with determination. Tomorrow, he’d go back to the shelter, and enact phase one of his plan to win over Nagisa’s heart.

“Say, Rin.”

“Mm?”

Rei glanced over to his passenger. “You free tonight?”

“Yeah? What’re you thinking?”

“I need your help to build a plan to woo Nagisa.”

Rin’s eyes gleamed. “Well, count me in. We’ll come up with something good!”

 

* * *

 

They spent the rest of the night on their living room couch, TV tuned in to the Friday night romcom marathon, bowl of popcorn and box of kleenex in reach, laptop open on the coffee table. There were four windows open on the computer: one was a document detailing Rei’s itinerary for harnessing Nagisa’s affections, one was a .pdf file of the pet shelter’s weekly schedule for employees,  one was a google search for pickup lines, and one was another document for collecting and categorizing the best of the aforementioned pickup lines. Their pickup line screening process consisted of reciting the results of their searches to each other and judging the effectiveness of each line on a scale of one to five. Initially, the document was only for lines scoring a 4 or 5, but it was beginning to accumulate a number of 1’s and 2’s on the basis of being hilarious. Every so often, the laptop would be abandoned in favour of the kleenex box as the movies (played only for research purposes and mood-setting, not enjoyment, _honestly_ ) reached critical romantic moments.

Another movie finished, and Rei found himself dabbing at his eyes with a wad of tissue. Beside him, Rin was still wailing about how positively _beautiful_ the ending was, how beautiful love was. Rei glanced at the clock – 1:27 am, precisely. 1:27 am late Friday night (or early Saturday morning, really), sitting on the couch with his roommate, crying over romcoms and plotting the romantic pursuit of the century.

Rei smiled. It was perfect. In this moment, there was nowhere else he would rather be in the entire world.

Rei thought about a bulletin board at the university, five months back, and an advertisement seeking a roommate printed on bright yellow paper. At the time, he hadn’t been sure about calling the number – living with a complete stranger? It was only his first year of university, would he manage to survive that kind of situation? But he’d been far from home, and the university residence had turned out to be a horror show, and it’s not like he had to befriend whoever his future roommate was (or so he believed, at the time).

Beside him, Rin blew his nose loudly, dragging Rei back to the present. He smiled. Never in his life would he ever regret calling the number on that advertisement.

“You sound like you could use some cheering up with more terrible pickup lines,” Rei teased.

“Do your worst,” Rin laughed behind the tears still fresh on his cheeks.

 

* * *

 

Rei pulled into the parking stall right in front of the shelter’s main entrance, and went through his usual end-of-driving checklist – lights off, valuables covered, keys not in the ignition or laying out in the car, this time maybe he’d put on the steering wheel lock—

“Seriously dude, you take way too long checking over your car.”

“You willingly chose me to be your chauffeur for the weekend, so I’ll have no complaining from you, Rin,” Rei lectured, putting on as stern a voice as he could manage.

“Well being my chauffeur is about to get you a boyfriend, so _I’ll_ be having none of your complaining about my complaining,” Rin countered.

Rei could only laugh. It’s not like Rin was incorrect.

They headed inside. Rei pulled the door open, and gestured for Rin to go through. Rin smirked. “Break a leg, Romeo,” he said quietly, and walked past Rei into reception.

Nagisa was at the counter, along with someone else Rei didn’t recognize. The man had piercing blue eyes, raven black hair and blank expression that darkened into a glare as Rei and Rin walked in. Nagisa looked up at the entrance, and his immediate delight shone even brighter by contrast beside the other man’s grimace. Rei adjusted his glasses. He could feel his heart rate begin to increase, but not as much as the day before, which was a good sign. _That’s right, Rei. Stay calm. You’ve got this._

Rin gestured towards the stranger. “Rei, this is my best friend and coworker, Haru. Haru, this is my roommate, Rei.”

Rei nodded at Haru. “Pleased to meet you.” In his short time living with Rin, Rei hadn’t learned much about his roommate’s life outside their shared apartment, but Haru’s name had come up on a few occasions.

“Hi.” Haru’s tone was standoffish, and under normal circumstances Rei might’ve taken offense, but he could recall Rin mentioning that Haru had difficulty talking to strangers. He let it go.

“Anyways, Haru, come on back, I need to talk to you.” Rin all but dragged Haru into the back room.

 _Step one complete._ According to the shelter’s schedule, Rin, Nagisa and Haru’s schedules all overlapped on Saturdays, so Rin had agreed to get Haru out of reception so Rei could be alone with Nagisa. In the event of another customer showing up, Rin would come back out and handle it. Rei couldn’t help but smile. Their plan was truly a thing of beauty, meticulously crafted and filled with solutions to every possible interfering event. It was, in essence, truly foolproof.

It was time to execute step two. Rei pushed up his glasses, strode (with confidence a-plenty) up to the counter, leaned on one elbow, put on his most charming, _disarming_ smile, looked Nagisa in the eye—

And promptly forgot every single 5-star pickup line he’d copy-pasted into the list of good pickup lines the previous night.

Rei tried to hold down the panic blooming in his stomach. It’s not like he could have foreseen the look of excitement— No, excitement didn’t cut it. Something _beyond_ excitement was radiating from every inch of Nagisa’s body, and Rei was ready to faint on the spot because how could one human being be _so goddamn beautiful_?

And so, Rei found himself, once again, trying to keep his breathing deep and even. He wracked his brains for memories of the night before, but all he could see was Rin’s snotty face and an empty bowl of popcorn and an open laptop, abandoned on the coffee table. _Think, Rei! What was_ on _the laptop?_ A line popped into his head, and he latched onto it with every ounce of his mental energy.

“You know, Nagisa, pants are a vestigial organ, and yours are looking infected. Maybe you need them removed.”

The _second_ the words left his mouth, Rei knew he had made a grave mistake.

The memories that had been so elusive only moments ago suddenly came flooding back. Rin and Rei, sitting on the couch, in tears of laughter over how completely beyond _awful_ that one line had been. Rin snatching the laptop away, copying and pasting the line into the list. Rei pulling the laptop back, and, rather than deleting it from the list, assigning it a score of -7.

Negative. Seven. On a scale of one to five.

Rei buried his face in his hands. He saw no other possible course of action that could salvage this mess beyond praying for a swift and immediate death, so pray he did, beseeching all deities real and fictional to kindly remove him from this existence, right now, if you please—

His pleas were interrupted by the sound of sunlight playing across ocean waves.

Rei looked up from his hands. Nagisa was laughing, tears streaming down his cheeks. And behind it all, Rei thought he could hear—

“Rei-chan. Oh my God, _Rei-chan_.”

Nagisa visibly fought to bring his laughter under control, and wiped the tears from his eyes.

Rei swallowed. This was it, the moment of truth. Nagisa would tell him how pathetic he was, tell him he was a loser, totally not smooth, not at all worth dating—

“Please, Rei-chan, tell me you’re single. And then give me your number.”

Rei’s heart stopped.

“My— You want. My. I’m. What?”

“You heard me,” Nagisa’s breath was heaving, still. “Give me your number. We’ll go to a nice coffee shop. Or maybe skip the boring first date and go straight to an amusement park. Do you like rollercoasters, Rei-chan?”

Rei felt like he was on a rollercoaster, right in that instant. “Y-yes? I haven’t really. Uh. Been on many?” What on earth was happening? Why was Nagisa asking him about amusement parks? And asking for his—

_Oh._

_OH._

Rei’s jaw dropped. “Are you… Are you seriously asking me out. After that _horrendous_ line.”

“Rei-chan. I am asking you out _because_ of that horrendous line.” Nagisa’s eyes were positively _shimmering_ , and Rei was certain he was hiding _entire galaxies_ in those irises. Some logical portion of his brain told him that wasn’t possible. Rei told that logical portion of his brain to shut the heck up.

“Nagisa…” Rei was at a loss for words. He wasn’t entirely sure his brain was actually functional, anymore.

“It’s okay Rei-chan. Don’t try to think. Just pass me your phone.”

Rei obliged, gratefully.

 

* * *

 

By Sunday, Rin had given up commenting on Rei’s ritual car check. They walked into the shelter together for the second day in a row, although this time Rin held the door open for Rei. Inside, Nagisa was waiting, but not behind the counter – the moment Rei walked through the door, he pounced, wrapping his arms (and possibly his legs?? Rei wouldn’t have been overly surprised if that were the case) around Rei’s torso. An affectionate warmth spread through Rei’s body, and he wrapped his arms around Nagisa.

Behind the counter, Rei noticed Haru, well, not _glaring_ , but, watching. His face was neutral, but his eyes were practically broadcasting some kind of emotion that Rei couldn’t quite place. Almost jealousy, but also not. Rin nudged Haru and said something that wasn’t quite discernable, and Haru turned his head and scowled. Rei made a mental note to ask Rin about it later on. In the meantime, he turned his focus back to Nagisa, who was still fastened securely to Rei primarily via the sheer power of his own enthusiasm, Rei assumed.

He still couldn’t _believe_ Nagisa had actually asked him out. It felt surreal.

Nagisa looked up. “So Rei-chan,” he sang, “when are you free to go on that amusement park date?”

Rei adjusted his glasses and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not sure if i'll be able to work these into the story later, so in case you were wondering...
> 
> 1\. Rin was laughing in the car at a text from Nagisa asking if Rei was single  
> 2\. At the end, Rin, nudges Haru and makes a comment about how he could have the same thing [as Rei and Nagisa] with Makoto if he'd try to ask the guy out
> 
> next chapter: the return of Makoto
> 
> come chat with me about sports anime and fun headcanons on tumblr @ bombushuntii


	4. between the lines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> procrastination and sleep deprivation
> 
> X = Makoto

Sunday morning found Makoto awake at 2:45 am, sitting at his kitchen table, staring morosely into his cup of decaffeinated earl grey.

He watched the glowing numbers on his microwave tick forward by one minute. 2:46. Unreasonable. Makoto was a night owl, but this was late even by his standards. Try as he might, though, sleep had not come. He’d lain awake in his bed for hours, shifting positions periodically but never finding a comfortable spot, paying altogether too much attention to his breathing rate, unable to shake the image of a pair of sapphires from his head. Finally, around two-thirty, he’d given up entirely and gone to make tea.

To be fair, though, Makoto wasn’t sure how he had ever expected to be able to sleep after the week he’d had. It had all started with his initial trip to the pet shelter last Sunday. He’d gone there looking for a nice cat to adopt, but what he’d found instead was a reserved, mysterious and positively gorgeous young man. Makoto could still see it, still picture their first meeting in his head…

_Makoto had pulled open the front door to the shelter and stepped inside, but the reception area had been empty. Other people might have been concerned upon seeing the lack of employees, but not Makoto – he had been certain that someone would be on their way soon, they were probably just busy finishing up a task and would come check the front when they finished. With that in mind, he had wandered up to the counter, grabbed a pamphlet from the stack that had been laid out, flipped through it while waiting for a staff member to come greet him. Sure enough, barely a moment had passed before a side door had opened to reveal a pair of piercing blue eyes. Makoto hadn’t had time to place the emotion they’d been revealing before they had suddenly changed, widening slightly and spelling out a mix of shock and wonder._

Makoto hadn’t been able to get those eyes out of his head all week. He had spent every waking moment of Monday replaying that moment in his mind’s theatre, ignoring lectures and neglecting assignments in favour of letting the scene unfold over and over _ad infinitum_ . Tuesday and Wednesday had been much of the same; Haru had firmly lodged himself in the forefront of Makoto’s brain and refused to budge. It was when he’d woken up on Thursday with Haru’s eyes still seared into his mind that Makoto had realized he should probably visit the shelter again and get, well, whatever _this_ was out of his system.

His trip on Thursday afternoon had proven to be a bust, though; Makoto had stopped by before his night class, but it had turned out that he’d been too early by an hour. In retrospect, he should have probably considered himself lucky that Haru had even been working that day at all. Makoto knew Haru was a student, he could have easily inferred that Haru only worked part-time. Even Makoto only worked part-time at his own job. What _had_ he been thinking, showing up and just expecting Haru to be there?

In any case, he hadn’t managed to see Haru on Thursday, and on top of that, he’d been far too obvious about his interest in seeing Haru again in front of the other pet shelter employees. Most of Makoto’s evening class had been spent trying, and failing, to convince himself that saying we wanted to talk to Haru so he could eventually adopt a five-week old kitten was not as flimsy an excuse as it felt. As if Haru was the only staff member who could handle the kitten. As if his coworkers didn’t also work at a pet shelter, where pets were likely handled by staff on a regular basis. Makoto buried his face in his hands and groaned. Just _thinking_ about how obvious he’d been made him want to melt into the floor in embarrassment, despite being entirely alone in his kitchen in the dead of night. The blond one – Nagisa? – had had such a knowing look in his eyes while reciting Haru’s work schedule, and the other, Rin, had recognized him instantly from his first trip. And to top it all off, Makoto had caught at least one extremely weighted glance between the two of them—

Makoto slapped a hand to his forehead. _Stop._ He was letting his thoughts run away, again, for the thousandth time this week.

_This is why you can’t focus on anything. Or sleep. Idiot._

His tea sat, untouched, on the table in front of him. The microwave clock ticked forward another minute.

Makoto knew he was fixating; he’d spend all of Friday and Saturday trying to talk himself out of it. Why did it matter, if Rin and Nagisa knew he wanted to talk to Haru? What was bad about wanting to see him again? _Why couldn’t he get those eyes out of his head?_

Of course, the answer was painfully obvious.

He’d spent all week trying not to admit it, but that didn’t make it any less true.

Makoto sighed.

Nagisa had listed Saturday as a day that Haru worked, but Makoto had avoided going to the shop in favour of finishing the housework he’d been neglecting for who knew how long. Usually Makoto was a procrastinator when it came to chores, but this time he’d seized his motivation and thrown himself into every task wholeheartedly. After all, there was a lot that needed to be done. There had been laundry to do, and bathrooms to scrub – well, bath _room_ , singular – and dishes to wash, and surely it had been, what, months?, since Makoto had reorganized his closet, and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever pulled the bookshelf in his room away from the wall to sweep behind it but hey, no time like the present to start being a neat freak.

Of course, Haru’s eyes had haunted him through every chore, from behind every piece of furniture, from the corner of every room. They’d stuck with him long past closing time at the shelter, during his dinner, as he tumbled into bed, exhausted. They had followed him as he got up to make tea in his now perfectly spotless kitchen at 2:30 am, and they were still there, watching from the recesses of his mind.

Makoto snorted. He was being overdramatic… Probably. It’s not like Haru was literally in his apartment, watching him. Or even thinking about him, in his own home. What were the chances that Haru even remembered who he was, after all? Wasn’t that a thing, with retail employees? Too many faces in a day, too many to remember. And a pet shelter employee was kind of like a retail—

“Stop. It.” Makoto’s voice was a low growl, irritated, but quiet, because it was nearly 3 am and Makoto could still be considerate of his neighbours even when he was on the verge of having some kind of meltdown. Or already having, maybe. Makoto wasn’t really sure. He wasn’t sure about _anything_ , really. At this particular moment in time, he knew exactly two things: first, that he needed sleep _very_ badly, and second, that he needed to see Haru again, if only to get his stupid awful beautiful _expressive_ eyes out of his mind.

He had to visit the shelter again, tomorrow.

Makoto glanced at the microwave. _Today_ , he corrected himself, _after I wake up_.

He took a sip of his tea. It was cold.

He stood up.

_Today._

It was 3:27 am when Makoto finally felt himself begin to drift off, bundled in blankets, mug of tea still exactly where he had left it on the table.

 

* * *

 

He almost didn’t go.

If Makoto had gotten more than four hours of restless sleep, maybe he would have talked himself out of making the trip. But instead of the solid eight hours of bliss he’d been hoping for, he had woken up repeatedly throughout the night, each time shaking off the broken fragments of interrupted dreams that never failed to feature a certain pair of clear blue eyes, each time falling into new dreams about Haru and the pet shelter. The nervous stress he’d been feeling before he went to sleep was still consuming his mind, demanding his attention, spurring him forward. As long as he was obsessing, he had no other choice.

Makoto signalled for a left turn. It was time to be honest with himself; he wanted to get to know Haru better, as a friend, as more than a friend. Makoto knew, logically, that love at first sight didn’t exist, and he didn’t think this was it, not remotely, but it was the closest he’d ever been to feeling like half of some kind of cliché fairytale couple, and he wanted to know if it would go anywhere. He wanted it to go somewhere.

It was stupid, illogical, _impractical_ – he’d known that since the very beginning. But there it was, regardless.

A right turn, through the lights. Another left, into the parking lot. He’d tried to bottle up his feelings all week. He had gone to the pet shelter in the first place to find a cat, not love. This was, by far, one of the most idiotic things he’d ever done—

Makoto swerved out of the other car’s way and reprimanded himself internally for not noticing that someone else had been trying to exit the parking lot. He waved apologetically at the other driver, a young man with bright red glasses and a somewhat terrified expression, and prayed that this wouldn’t stick him in a cycle of bad traffic karma. The last thing Makoto needed right now was a shit time of things on the roads, on top of everything else.

He pulled into a spot in the corner of the lot, as far as he could get from the main entrance to the building, turned off his car, and sat for a few moments, simply breathing.

There was still time to drive away—

 _No._ He would do this. _Today._

He stepped out of his car, made the short trek across the parking lot, pulled the front door open. Reception was empty, again. Makoto walked up to the counter, briefly wondered if he had remembered to lock his car, wondered if Haru would come in through the side door again.

A door opened, not the side door. The one behind the counter, this time.

And Haru did not walk through the door. Rin, however, did.

Makoto felt his face begin to burn.

Rin flashed a wry grin. “You’re too early again, you know.”

Makoto considered pretending he was here for the cat, again. He decided against it and tried to answer Rin with a smile of his own. It felt shaky. “Well, Nagisa never gave me his shift start times, only the days he worked.”

Rin burst into laughter. “No pretenses this time, eh?”

“You know, I do _actually_ want to adopt a cat. That wasn’t a lie.” Makoto felt his nerves begin to steady themselves.

“So your heart’s still set on Izanami.”

Makoto’s grin this time was confident. “I thought her name was Wasabi.”

“You little _shit_.” Rin’s expression was affronted, but Makoto knew better.

“You say that as if you’re actually offended,” Makoto teased.

“How do you know I’m not?” Rin countered, raising an eyebrow.

“Your eyes are laughing.”

Rin blinked in surprise. He opened his mouth as if to say something, closed it again, and finally dropped his head onto one hand with a soft smile.

“You know… Haru is very anxious when it comes to talking to strangers, and strangers don’t often take to him very easily, either.”

Makoto felt his heart pick up its pace, just a little bit. “Is that so.”

“He gets nervous, and people generally don’t know how to deal with that. They don’t know how to read the atmosphere. They say the wrong things. He’ll clam up, and they get offended. They give up.” Rin looked up, locked eyes with Makoto. Makoto could hear the unasked question –  _they give up; why didn’t you?_

Makoto shrugged. “Haru has expressive eyes. I’m surprised no one else seems to notice.” _I could tell he was shy, I could tell he was nervous. Is that really so difficult for so many people?_

Rin nodded. “Yeah, he really does.”

A few seconds of silence passed, and Rin yawned. “In any case, come back in about forty-five minutes. He’ll be back by then.” He stretched his arms back and folded them behind his head.

“Wait, can’t I play with the cats till he gets here?” Makoto was genuinely disappointed.

Rin snorted. “The cats don’t like me as much as they like Haru. They don’t like _anyone_ as much as they like Haru, for that matter. I’d rather not deal with them if I don’t have to. Just go get a coffee or something. There’s a nice little cafe down the block.”

Makoto added a touch more drama to his sigh than was likely necessary. “Fiiiine,” he drew out the word as long as he could, doing his best to channel his younger siblings, “but I _will_ be back to see the cats, you know. And if Haru isn’t here, you’re going to have to help me. You know, given that you’re an employee of this fine establishment and all.”

Rin responded with an exaggerated eye roll. “Appealing to my occupational responsibilities, huh? That’s a cheap tactic.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get something out of it, I promise. I’ll teach you the secret of making cats love you.”

Rin laughed. “Fine then, it’s a deal. But not today. Now go find something to occupy yourself for the next hour.”

“Forty-five minutes,” Makoto corrected, waving goodbye as he pulled open the door.

 

* * *

 

The café _was_ very nice, and Makoto spent a solid twenty minutes soaking in the pleasant atmosphere while sipping a hot chocolate. He felt lighter, somehow; his conversation with Rin had calmed his nerves a lot. Sometimes he got too wrapped up in his own thoughts. Sometimes it was nice to get out of his own head and just _talk_ to people. Sometimes that was all he needed.

Makoto leaned back into the cushioned armchair and gazed out the window. He didn’t have to wonder if Haru wanted to see him again; if Haru wasn’t interested, Makoto would have never had a single conversation with him. Maybe Rin hadn’t told him so outright, but Makoto had always had a knack for reading between the lines.

Minutes passed, and Makoto began to feel increasingly restless. He wasn’t exactly nervous anymore, but… He’d been putting off this encounter all week, and here was, finally wanting to go through with it, but stuck waiting, still. He checked his watch. Still ten more minutes… _Eh, screw it._ Makoto was tired of waiting. The walk to the shelter was probably ten minutes or so; Makoto would just leave his car parked at the café instead of driving back.

As expected, the walk was short, and ten minutes later Makoto found himself pulling open the door of the pet shelter for the second time that day. Reception was empty; this was not remotely a surprise. He approached the counter to wait. In a few moments, Haru would appear, and Makoto would ask to see the white kitten again. They would get to talk some more, and Makoto would maybe ask Haru about himself, get to know him a bit better. Tell Haru some stories about his classes, or his neighbours. He would judge the situation from there, and if the context called for it maybe he’d ask Haru out for coffee, or maybe he would wait until his next visit. It would all depend on how things unfolded, which was perfectly fine by Makoto – he wasn’t one to make extensive or detailed plans, after all. Reading the situation and making decisions based on what he saw was enough of a plan for him.

The sound of a door opening broke Makoto out of his thoughts.

It was Haru.

Excitement welled up in Makoto’s chest. It was time.

He put on his happiest smile and leaned onto the counter. “Haru!”

Haru strode up to the counter, face set in a mask of determination. Before Makoto could even think to question what was going through Haru’s head, however, he felt a hand grab one of his own.

“Makoto.” Haru was leaning across the counter, eyes earnest, grip tight, voice serious.

Whatever was happening right now was not adhering to anything Makoto had thought possible. Maybe he was more into planning than he had originally believed. He swallowed. “Y-yes, Haru?”

Haru closed his eyes, inhaled, opened his eyes. There was something else there, when he opened them. Something softer. Makoto momentarily forgot to breathe.

“We should go out for coffee, sometime.”

If Makoto was still harbouring any doubts about Haru’s interest in him, well, they were all dispelled in that moment. He laughed, watched with fondness as Haru’s eyes widened, read the question behind them – _why are you laughing?_

He placed his free hand over Haru’s. _Because I wasn’t expecting this_. Haru looked up, a smile in those clear blue eyes, and Makoto knew that Haru had seen him answer.

“I actually parked at a nice little café down the street. I know you only just started your shift, but maybe afterwards I could treat you to something?”

Haru nodded, confirming what Makoto had already known from the blush rising in Haru’s cheeks. Makoto felt his heart _soar_. Never, not in a million years, not all week, had he expected something this amazing to happen. He couldn’t believe it.

“In the meantime, did you want to see the cats again?”

“You know,” Makoto said, “that’s actually why I’m here. Well, part of why, at any rate. I still do _actually_ want to adopt a cat.”

A smile tugged at Haru’s lips. “Really, now? Rin and Nagisa mentioned you stopped by on Thursday with the sole purpose of visiting me.”

“Of course they did.” Makoto was not shocked by this revelation in the slightest. “I’m still telling the truth though. I think I want to adopt the white one. You know, Wasabi-Izanami-Herring-chan.”

Haru turned his head to hide his face in his free hand. His shoulders shook with muffled laughter, and Makoto found himself wishing he could hear that laugh in its full glory.

 “Makoto,” he finally managed, “please, _please_ promise me you’ll give her a decent name when you eventually adopt her.”

It was Makoto’s turn to laugh. “It’s fine, she’s still too young to adopt, right? I still have a few more weeks to think of something good.”

 

* * *

 

Sunday night found Makoto lying in bed at 9:30 pm, tendrils of sleep just beginning to wrap around his consciousness. It was early, _far_ too early to be in bed, but it had been a long day.

_A good day._

He felt light with happiness, heavy with fatigue. The world faded in and out as sleep overtook him, and one final thought crossed his mind—

_Can’t wait for Tuesday._

He slept, deeply and dreamlessly, straight through until morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is the last! guess whose day we get to follow next? ;)
> 
> in the meantime, feel free to stop by on tumblr (bombushuntii) and say hi!


	5. rhythm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wasabi-Izanami-Herring-chan finally gets a proper name
> 
> X = Nagisa

Nagisa rummaged through his sock drawer, humming along to the music pouring from his laptop. From somewhere behind him came the familiar squeak of his bathroom sink taps, followed by a sudden rush of running water.

Nagisa grinned. Today was going to be a good day.

After a few minutes of digging, he finally found what he’d been looking for.

Nagisa heard the bathroom door open. “You’re spending a lot more time than strictly necessary looking for socks.”

“Special socks for a special day, Rei-chan!” There was a sound of approaching footsteps, and then Rei was leaning over Nagisa’s shoulder, evidently looking to see what pair of socks was worth taking so long to search for. Nagisa couldn’t see Rei’s face, but he felt his smile and knew that Rei must have registered what Nagisa was holding – a pair of magenta socks, patterned with small black and white cats.

“A special day, indeed.” There was a touch of fondness in Rei’s voice, and a small sliver of excitement. Nagisa felt a soft kiss pressed to the crown of his head as Rei stood up, and warmth spread down his spine.

“Anyways, you should probably hurry up and get dressed. I’ll get started on our breakfast.”

“Ooh, making something extravagant, Rei-chan?”

“Special breakfast for a special day.”

That was a very promising response, in Nagisa’s humble opinion. Rei had only stayed over a handful of times in the past month, but on each occasion he had ended up creating absolute masterpieces for breakfast that far outclassed Nagisa’s usual morning meal of leftovers or bread from the convenience store or nothing at all.

I wonder what it will be this time? Maybe it would be pancakes. Nagisa hoped it would be pancakes.

Bouncing back to his feet, he resumed his humming and danced his way over to the closet. Ten minutes later found him fully dressed, and a myriad of clothes that hadn’t made the cut for today’s outfit heaped on his mattress. He made a mental note to put them away later – much later – and skipped to the kitchen. To his delight, Rei was, in fact, making pancakes, his vibrant purple apron tied in a neat bow behind his back.

Wait a minute.

“Is that your apron, Rei-chan?” Nagisa questioned as he sauntered into the room.

“Hm? Yes, I brought it with me. Pancakes can get messy and you don’t even own an apron so I thought I’d come prepared.” Rei didn’t look up from his work at the stovetop, and Nagisa realized he was holding a squeeze bottle of what appeared to be pancake batter over the frying pan, instead of ladling the batter on like a normal human being.

Waaaaaaaait a minute!

Nagisa couldn’t stop the small gasp that fell from his mouth as he peered over Rei’s shoulder. “You’re making pancake art.”

Rei smiled. “I thought I’d give it a try, after you showed me those videos last week. Today seemed like an opportune day to do it, seeing as it is our one-month anniversary and all.” A light blush dusted Rei’s cheeks, and Nagisa was ready to ascend. In front of him, Rei flipped the pancake to reveal a slightly asymmetrical butterfly. Rei frowned. “It’s harder than it looks, though.”

“I think it’s beautiful.” Nagisa’s voice was quiet and filled with awe. Rei was constantly surprising him with small gestures like this, and Nagisa wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to it.

“I’ve got enough for one more, want to give it a try?”

Nagisa grinned as he reached for the squeeze bottle.

This was already the best day he’d had in ages, and it was only just beginning.

 

* * *

 

Rei was still outside doing his standard onceover of the car as Nagisa burst through the front door of the pet shelter and all but sprinted for the back room. The door behind the counter opened just as he reached it, and he barely managed to stop in time to avoid crashing into Rin.

“Someone’s excited to come to work today.” Rin’s tone was matter-of-fact, bored even.

“What, and you’re not?” Nagisa did not have time for Rin to play it cool. Not today. Besides, there was no way Rin wasn’t at least as, if not more, excited than Nagisa for what was about to happen. “Rin, please. I distinctly recall you being moved to tears when Makoto told us he’d be adopting Wasabi-chan during one of our shifts together.” More specifically, Makoto had shown up at the shelter with a tray of coffees for the three of them and some incredibly kind words about what good friends they were and how honoured he’d be to be able to adopt the kitten from them, or at the very least have them present when he named her. Quite frankly, Nagisa had been just as emotional about it as Rin, but Rin was a crier and Nagisa wasn’t, and that gave Nagisa the absolute right to make fun of him for it.

Rin only shrugged, and Nagisa could tell he was trying to think of something to say in retaliation that wouldn’t make him look like he was fazed by the comment. (Nagisa was mildly disappointed, but not overly surprised; it had been ages since he had been able to get easy reactions out of Rin every time he tried). Rin seemed to settle on a response, opened his mouth, and was promptly interrupted by Rei opening the front door.

“I’m here! Hey, Rin.” Rei waved.

“Sorry Rei, you missed Makoto – he showed up while you were taking literally 80 years to make sure you didn’t lock your keys in your car,” Rin deadpanned.

“Doing a post-drive examination of your vehicle is no joking matter, Rin.” Rei pushed his glasses up his nose in that positively endearing way of his. “Besides, you are clearly lying, as no cars came or went from the parking lot while I was out there.”

“Ooh, detective Rei-chan strikes again!” Nagisa exclaimed.

 

With that, the three of them fell into an easy banter, and somewhere behind it all, something warm flared up in Nagisa’s heart – already? The other two aren’t even here yet. Nagisa shook his head. It was still far too soon for all of the emotions that were currently threatening to flood out of his heart.

“Oi, earth to Nagisa.” Rin’s voice dragged him back to the present. “Keep it together, day’s not even over yet.”

Nagisa raised an eyebrow and summoned his cheekiest tone of voice. “Speak for yourself, Rin. Should I get a box of tissues ready for when Makoto arrives, or do you think you can hold out until he leaves?”

Rin scowled. “Listen here, you little—”

“Oh, hey everyone!” Once again, Rin was interrupted by the arrival of guests, and Nagisa silently thanked whatever mysterious powers ran the universe for shifting the focus away from himself for the time being.

“Makoto! Haru! It’s good to see you again!” Excitement shone through Rei’s words, and Nagisa couldn’t help but smile fondly before turning to the last two additions to the group.

“Mako-chan, you sound surprised to see us all here.”

Makoto laughed as he approached the counter, Haru’s hand clasped in his as though it had always belonged there. “Well… This may seem silly, but almost every time I come here no one is actually out front. I’ve gotten kind of used to seeing it empty.”

“That’s because this pet shelter is staffed by lazy students who would rather sit in the back room doing nothing than greet customers,” Haru deadpanned from beside Makoto.

“What about the employees who would rather pet cats all day than interact with real human beings?” Rin quirked his brow. Haru frowned and looked away, but it was blatantly obvious to anyone with eyes that he wasn’t actually offended.

“Well, don’t you all sound like model employees.” Rei’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Makoto chuckled. “It wouldn’t be the same if they were.”

His words hit Nagisa square in the chest, and some of the warmth from earlier began to bubble into existence again. He knew exactly what Makoto was getting at – there was something comfortable, something correct about their group dynamics, and to change anything about the way any of them were would be to change the group itself. It might have been a bit dramatic to assume that they could not have become friends under any other circumstances, but Nagisa wouldn’t have changed any part of it, or them, for the world.

Rin was looking in his direction again, so Nagisa shook the thoughts out of his head. Not the time. Transparent as he may be (especially to Rin and Haru), he didn’t need his emotions to be the centre of attention in that moment. “Anyways, I believe Mako-chan is here for a reason, right, Rin-chan?”

Rin flashed a toothy grin. “I believe that is correct, Nagisa. Why don’t we get the paperwork from Makoto, and Haru can go grab the kitten?”

Haru raised an eyebrow. “I’m not on shift, Rin. You need to do it.”

“The cats hate me though,” Rin protested.

“Rin, please, I’ve been helping you learn to handle cats for two weeks now,” Makoto gave Rin a mildly disapproving stare – the one Nagisa had dubbed the ‘disappointing your mother look’.

It certainly seemed to have it’s effect on Rin; he sighed and folded his arms in defeat. “Fiiiine,” he conceded, and stalked out of the room grumbling about how he still preferred dogs over cats.

“So Mako-chan, when will you finally admit that you're the mom friend?” Nagisa asked casually as he began rummaging behind the counter for the adoption paperwork.

“Nagisa, I'm not the mom friend.”

“That look you just gave Rin-chan says otherwise.”

“I have to agree with Nagisa,” Rei chimed in, “you are kind of the mom friend.”

Makoto turned to Haru with a plaintive look. “Haru, I'm not the mom friend?” It was more of a question that a confident statement.

Haru caught Nagisa’s eye, and Nagisa did not miss the mischievous smile that appeared momentarily on his lips. “Makoto. You are the very definition of the mom friend.”

Makoto groaned, and Nagisa winked at Haru in thanks. Haru nodded, the movement barely perceptible. Another mission accomplished with the help of one of his oldest friends. Nagisa chuckled to himself. It was funny, really; people often asked Nagisa how someone as outgoing as him was such close friends with someone as quiet and serious as Haru. The answer, of course, was simply that Haru wasn’t as serious as everyone believed. Quiet? Absolutely. Serious? Nagisa wanted to laugh. Not in a million years.

“In that case, since I’m apparently your mother, allow me to remind you that you have a job to do, young man!” 

Nagisa laughed at the fake stern tone in Makoto’s voice. “Yes, of course, mom. Did you bring the completed application with you?” 

Makoto nodded and slid his backpack off his shoulder, unzipped the pocket and pulled out a stack of papers. “Haru helped me fill it out, so it should be done perfectly.” 

The image of Haru and Makoto poring over an adoption application at the kitchen table or in a nice little cafe somewhere brought a smile to Nagisa’s lips. _Wasabi-chan is lucky to have such good people taking care of her_. 

Makoto passed the application papers to Nagisa as Rin emerged from the side door with a small blue cat carrier emanating soft meowing noises. 

“There you go, Makoto,” Rin said as he passed over the carrier, “one small cat, now yours forever.” 

“Congratulations Mako-chan!” Nagisa grinned.

“She’s so lovely,” Rei chimed in. “So… What are you going to name her?” 

Nagisa’s heart began to beat faster in anticipation. This was it, the moment they’d all been waiting for. 

“Well…” Makoto began, “I wanted to make sure her name was something all three of you could be proud of.” 

“Just stick with Izanami,” Rin muttered under his breath. Nagisa stifled a laugh.

Makoto grinned. “It’s okay, Rin, you’ll like this one. I promise.” 

“If Rin likes it, then it can’t possibly be good,” Haru chimed in from Makoto’s side.

“You’ll like it too, Haru.” 

Now _that_  was a known impossibility. “A name both Haru and Rin could possibly agree on?” Nagisa’s eyes gleamed, and he leaned forward in anticipation. “Now, _this,_  I must see.” 

Makoto met his remark with another one of his trademark golden smiles. 

“Her name is Amphitrite,” he said with pride. “You know, Poseidon's wife. So, a badass goddess for Rin, something ocean-related for Haru, and a unique, foreign name to appease Nagisa. It’s not English, but I figured Greek would be an acceptable substitute.” 

Nagisa felt his jaw drop. “Mako-chan… that’s _perfect_!” Beside him, Rin was grinning, and across the counter, Haru’s eyes gleamed – they were clearly happy with the name as well.

Rei laughed. “Who knew, it actually _was_  possible to pick a name all three of them would like.” 

“Don’t forget about yourself, Rei.” Nagisa could barely contain his excitement at how glorious this coincidence was. He turned to Makoto. “We all know Rei’s a chem major, but did you know he’s actually minoring in Greek mythology?” 

“Wait, seriously?” Makoto’s eyes lit up.

Rei adjusted his glasses, face painted with a smug expression, and Nagisa’s heart swelled with pride. “It’s actually a Greek and Roman studies minor, so it’s not entirely focused on mythology, but it does feature quite prominently, as Nagisa suggests,” he said in that lovably _dorky_  way of his. “I took a Greek mythology course as an option in my first year, and I found it really enjoyable, so I wanted to continue learning about it.” 

“So Mako-chan really did pick the perfect name, in the end!” Nagisa added. His heart was _soaring_. The question of what name Makoto would choose had been nagging at the back of his mind for a couple of weeks now, and the answer was far better than anything he could have possibly anticipated. And there they were again, those warm fuzzy _feelings_  welling up in his heart and threatening to spill over – or, as Nagisa liked to think of them, the signal to start making fun of Rin in order to draw away any unwanted attention and keep the mood light. He stole a glance at his friend and grinned mischievously. _Jackpot_. “Look, even Haru-chan and Rin-chan think it’s perfect. Especially Rin-chan. Do you want that kleenex box yet?” 

Nagisa was sure Rin must have been trying his best to shoot him a glare, but the effect was somewhat ruined by the glimmer of tears clinging to his eyelashes, and the fact that his eyes were just a _little_  glassier that usual. 

“Rin, are you seriously crying right now?” Haru raised an eyebrow.

Rin scowled. “No! Obviously not.” 

“What, is there just dust in your eye, then?” 

“Maybe it’s cat hair,” Rei volunteered, and Rin looked so offended that Makoto burst into laughter, and beside him, even Haru’s shoulders began to quiver as he hid his face behind one hand and turned his head away.

Nagisa cackled gleefully, all the while wishing the moment would never end.

 

* * *

 

Later, much later, after Makoto and Haru left with Amphitrite, after Nagisa finished his shift and after his dinner with Rei, after being dropped off at his small apartment, after calling Rei one last time to wish him goodnight, Nagisa wrapped himself tightly in his blankets and curled up on his bed. 

_Today was the best possible day,_  he decided, and smiled softly as tears of happiness pricked at the corners of his eyes. 

_I have the best possible friends._

And with that thought, Nagisa drifted off to sleep with his heart feeling as full as it ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's finally complete! thank you to everyone who waited so long for this final chapter. back in january, i wasn't sure how to get to where i wanted to go with this last chapter and then got hit with schoolwork and got stuck, but in the meantime i completed a handful of other fics over the summer and i think that helped me learn enough about writing to figure out how to finally finish this last chapter. (i also learned a valuable lesson in writing multi-chaps completely prior to posting, to avoid absurdly long hiatuses, lmao)
> 
> again, this is a gift for two of the greatest friends a person could ask for so MERRY CHRISTMAS 2015 EINZEL AND LINDY i hope u both enjoyed the final installment <3333
> 
> if anyone has any lingering questions or thoughts, pls comment below or drop by my writing sideblog, [charmingstrangeness](charmingstrangeness.tumblr.com)


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